Business chiefs called for swift action from the UK Government to help secure and potentially improve air links from Aberdeen and Inverness to London after a long-awaited report backed expansion at Heathrow.
After three years of investigation, the Airports Commission said Heathrow was best placed to provide “urgently required” capacity.
The commission decided that a new, full-length runway for the airport was better than extending one of its existing runways, or building a new one at Gatwick.
Attention is now focused on Westminster to see if it backs plans which Heathrow’s bosses say will deliver £14billion of economic benefit and 16,100 jobs, including 1,900 in the north-east and 1,400 in the Highlands, for Scotland.
The commission’s recommendation has raised hopes in the north of a resumption of flights between Inverness and the UK’s busiest airport. Bmi axed the route in 2008.
Inverness Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stewart Nicol said: “If a daily direct air link to Heathrow is available from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, I will strongly argue the same is required for Inverness.”
Highland and Islands Airports managing director Inglis Lyon added: “We welcome the decision by the Airports Commission to recommend Heathrow be given permission to develop its runway capacity.
“This is a decision that underlines the strategic importance of Heathrow, an airport that delivers massive economic benefits not just to the south-east but to the regions and nations of the UK.
“For the first time in years, it offers a realistic prospect that Inverness will once again be reconnected to the UK’s hub.”
Heathrow’s expansion may also provide a more certain future for existing regional routes, such as the direct link with Aberdeen.
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce research and policy director James Bream said a new runway at Heathrow was the favoured option for north-east business.
Mr Bream added: “Our connections to global markets are vital to the continuing prosperity of the area, with more than half of our members rating access to Heathrow as either important or critical to their business.
“We have consulted extensively with our members over the past 18 months and worked hard to make their views heard in the right places.
“Business now needs decisive action from the government. The UK and our region cannot afford further dithering, delay or denial for this vital project.”
Commission chairman Sir Howard Davies said the conclusions were “clear and unanimous”. He warned that London’s airports were showing signs of “strain“ and the entire system would be full by 2040 without action.
The government will now consider the recommendations, but the commission said a firm decision was needed soon, as bringing a new runway into operation would take at least a decade.